Drive unit for coal separators



Sept. 3, 1929. J, vNQRMAN `1,727,215.-

DRIVE NITFOR COAL `SEPARTORS Filed March 21, 1927 20 INVENTOR j @Se/y lff J70/"17201 Patented Sept. 3, 1929.

UNH-En VsTAT1511s..

JOSEPH .'1.- NiORMlN, :0F FREDERICK, MARYLAND.

DRIVE UNIT ronlcoAL snrAnAroRs.

Applica-tion fuea'nareh 721, 1927. serial No. 177,108.

vThe invention primarily yhas for its object to provide new and improveddrive mechanism for coal and slate separators of the type wherein areprovided parallelly hpositioned rollers, adjustably spaced and rotatablein a common direction to provide for and facilitate the separation ofslate lfrom coal, which said mechanism comprises drive and idler gearsso connected 'as `to 'remain in mesh regardless of the adjustment volfspaced relation of the rollers, and means to quickly and convenientlyeffect vthe desired adjustment of said rollers and'meshing gears. In itsmore detailed nature the invention resides in the provision 1nseparators .ofthe p typestated. of a driver gear fixed upon :each rollershaft end., an yidler gear adaptedito mesh with each adjacent. pair'ofdrivergears, links connecting .the axes of the `gearst'o permanentlyhold the idlers in mesh with the drivers gears regardless of their'adjusted spaced relation, means to impart rotation to vone or vmoreof'the roller shaft ends, and other means "to effect adjustment 'of j thespaced rollers all at one vand the Sametime and xin "like degree.

yTit-h the above and other objects in view that will hereinafter appear,the.l invention still further resides in the novel details otconstruction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which willLbe lfirst ully described, hen be 'particularly `pointed out in theappended claims, reference bein-ghad to the accompanying drawing, in`which:-

Figure l is a somewhat diagrammaticplan view villustrating one end of aset of separator rollers with the invention applied thereon. n

Figure 2 is a face `view illustrating the drive connections. j y 'Figure3 is an edge view ottheparts shown v'in Figure 1. y 1

Figure il is aldiagrammatic planlview `ot one end of the lazy'tongequipmentand illustrates Athe manner of adjusting the. roller (bearings.

lFigure 5 is an edge view of the parts shown in Figure 4. l i

In the drawing in which `like numerals .of reference indicatelike `partsin all of the figuresfl represents the side wingsor. hopper "torming.'plates which f are supported byY suitable framing VE2 includingiarear'transverse "bearing bar cross slotted as at 3 to receive thedepending webs 4 of the rollertrunnon drawing and because bearings '5.rlhe hearings '5 are thus laterally adjfusta'bly ymounted on the crosslbar 2, the cross webs 4 serving to 1prevent langular displacement, andmay be secured to any desired adjusted position, for vadjusting thespaced parallel relation of the rollers by the threaded stem and nutconnections '6. The roller trunnions lwhich have bearing fin the members:5 are lindicated at 17 and the spaced separator rollers at VV8.

The abovedescribed parts are well 'known in :coal .and slate separatorsand per se yorm no parlt of Amy present invention, Vwhich has for its`purpose 'to provide a new and Eimroved means for applying Vrotation to#the rollers and for simultaneously adjusting 'the spacing ot therollers vin the .manner -soon to be described.

In carrying out the principles of my v'invention each ot the rollertrunnions A7, at k*the driving end ot the separator, is vextended beyondthe Ibearing and has secured thereon a driver ygear 9. Intermediatelyoteachipair of gears 9 I :provide van idler gear 10 which is adapted tomesh with the said adjacent pair oit gears and impart the rotationo-on'e thereof Ito the other.

It is my purpose to so mount the'idler gears that they will always V.beheld in -mesh with vtherespective driver gears regardless of theirparallel lspace adjustment. To accomplish this l provide a plurality oflinks ill p'ivoted at. one endto the extended trunnions on vwhich thedriver gears 9 are mounted and at their other ends to the stub shaftsl12 forming the axes ot the idler gears 1 0.

The links thus "form a sort of zigzag arrangement as indicated in Figure2 of the of the tact that 'the driver and idlergears 9 and v10 arepositioned in meshthe latter'with and 'between an adjacent pair .ofthevformer, and links v-11-are pivoted to the axes of the driver and idlergears alternately and successively, as the spaced relation of therollers 8 is changed, by adjustment of the bearings 5, the axesvof `the'idler gears will be caused to move with the aXes of the ldriver gearsso that the cooperative meshing relation of the `.said .gears will berestrained under any and all'adjustments.

The links 1'1 may be provided Vat 'one's'ide' only ot the gears Vor atboth sides thereotas is Yfound more practical. f

Forimparting `rotation to the driver gears Cil the two most centrallypositioned trunnions 7 are preferably additionallyextended as at 13 andequipped with bevel gears 14, each of which is adapted to mesh with abevel gear 15 longitudinally adjustably mounted on the power shaft 16.Thus when rotation is imparted to the power shaft 16 in anyl suitablemanner, as by a belt and pulley connection for example, the rotation ofthe power shaft will be imparted, through the bevel gears 15 and 14tothe innermost driver gears 9 and therefrom to the remaining idler andvdriver' v gears successively.

The means for adjusting thespacing of the separator rollers,simultaneously and in like degree, will now be described.

In carrying out this feature of the invention I provide lazy tong orconnected link devices 17 loosely pivoted as at 18 and having theircrossed portions apertured `to receive the threaded securing stems. Anadjusting screw19 is swivelly connected to the link ends at theirmounting on the end stem 6 at each side of the separator as at 20 andpasses through a threaded bearing member 21 carried by the framing.

When it is desired to adjust the spaced relation of the rollers, thesecuring nuts on the stems 6 are loosened Vand the screws 19 rotated tocause the lazy tong links to be eX- tended or contracted as the case maybe to force the rollers farther apart or to draw c them more closelytogether. When the desired spacing is attained the nuts are againtightened and the adjustment secured against displacement.

VThe mechanism described provides an efficient means for effectinguniform adjustment of all of the roller spacings simultaneouslyandwithout the necessity of painstaking ad yjustment and measurement oftheindividual roller bearing in the accomplishment of the desiredresult.

If desired the power may be applied directly to any one of the drivergears, but I prefer to apply the power in the manner just abovedescribed as the parts are thereby subljected to less strain thanotherwise would be What I claim is:

l. In means to drive and adjust the relatively spaced relation of aplurality of rotatable shafts, a cross barto support the shafts at oneend, bearings for the shaft evenly j and v ends and mounted slidably onsaid cross bar,

lazy tongs connected to the bearings, and means to actuate the lazytongs to adjust the positions of all of the bearings simultaneously.

2. In means to drive and adjust the relatively spaced vrelation of aplurality of rotatable shafts, a slotted cross bar to support the shaftsat one end, bearings for the shaft ends and having stems projectingthrough and slidable in the cross bar slot, lazy tongs having theircrossed portions connected to the stems, bearing members carried by thecross bar and having threaded bearing borestherein, adjustment screwsoperable in the threaded bearing bores and connected to the ,.1 lazytong ends whereby when said screws are rotated the lazy tongs will beextended. or contracted to vary the spaced relation of the shaftsuniformly, said stems being threaded,

and clamp nuts on said threaded stemends ,.J. whereby adjustments of theshafts may be secured against inadvertent displacement by securing theadjusted positions of their bearings. f

3. Means to drive and adjust the relatively ,v spaced relation of aplurality of rotatable shafts, a `slotted cross bar to support theshafts at one end, bearings for the shaft ends and having stemsprojecting through and slidable in the cross bar slot, lazy tongs hav`ing their crossed portions connected to the i? stems, bearing memberscarried by the cross bar and having threaded bearing bores therein,adjustment screws operable in thev threaded bearing bores and connectedto the lazy tong ends whereby when said screws are rotated the lazytongs will be extended or contracted to vary the spaced relation of theshafts uniformly, said stems being threaded,

and clamp nuts on said threaded stem ends A whereby adjustments of theshafts may be secured against inadvertent displacement by securing theadjusted positions of their bearings, a driver gear on each shaft, anidler gear between and meshing with each adjacent c pair of drivergears, links connecting the idler andv driver gears in mesh regardless.of adjustment, and means to impart rotation to at least one of thegears. f

4. 'Means to drive and adjust the relatively spaced relation of aplurality of rotatable shafts, a slotted cross barV to support Vthe,

shafts at one end, bearings for the shaft ends and having stemsprojecting through and slidable in the cross bar slot, lazy tongs havingtheir crossed portions connected to the stems, bearing members carriedby thecross bar and having threaded bearing bores therein, adjustmentscrews operable in .theV

threaded bearing bores and connected to they lazy tong ends whereby whensaid screws are rotated the lazy tongs will be extended or contracted tovary the spaced relation of the shafts uniformly, said stems beingthreaded,

and clamp nuts on said threaded stem ends whereby adjustments of theshafts may be secured against inadvertent displacement by securing theadjusted positions of theiry bearings, a driver gear on each shaft, anidler gear between and meshing with each adja-` cent pair of drivergears, a stub shaft for loosely mounting each idler gear, links pivotedto the stub shaft of each idler gear and to the shafts of the drivergears with which said idler gear meshes to always hold that idler inmesh'vvith said driver gears regardless of their spaced relation, andmeans to impart rotation to at least one of the gears.

5. Means to drive and adjust the relatively spaced relation of aplurality of rotatable shafts, a cross bar to support the shafts at oneend, hearings for the shaft ends and mounted slidably on said cross bar,lazy l tongs connected to the bearings, a driver gear on each shaft, anidler gear bet-Ween and meshin with each adjacent pair of driver gears,inks connecting the idler gear with each pair of driver gears regardlessof adjustment, means to impart driving rotation to at least one of thegears thereby to turn all of said gears and means to actuate the lazytongs to adjust the positions of all of 25v the bearings simultaneously.

JOSEPH T. NORMAN.

